Manchester United 3-1 Fulham
My earliest meaningful recollection of Fulham FC is standing at the window of my grandmother's upstairs flat in Silverton Road at the end of February 1948 and watching the crowds trudge away from Craven Cottage.
They had been watching a match in the Sixth Round of the FA Cup. Fulham's opponents Blackpool had proved too strong for the Whites, who were then in a lower tier.
That explained the resigned look of the supporters as they made their way home. 75 years on, another quarter-final ended in defeat for the Londoners but the match will be notorious for the strangest 40 seconds that I have ever witnessed.
Whites in control
Fulham's hard-working players may be a trifle weary of the media's concentration on Joao Palhinha, but his return from suspension coincided with a huge improvement in the team's performance.
Manchester United are virtually unbeatable at home, yet Fulham stormed into them with Issa Diop's casual header an early test for David de Gea. Referee Chris Kavanagh issued cautions to Andreas Pereira and Harry Maguire, but was unimpressed by Aleksandar Mitrovic's penalty claim against Luke Shaw in an otherwise uneventful first half.
Some Fulham supporters are hostile to Kavanagh, especially after October's West Ham match, but I felt at the time it was the inadequate technology that denied us a point. In fact, the official has been lenient with Mitrovic in the past.
Fulham had so dominated Manchester United that they should have been leading at half-time, having launched fifteen crosses into de Gea's penalty area. Tm Ream and Bernd Leno had dealt efficiently with any threats from their lacklustre opponents.
Roasting
Despite (I assume) a half-time roasting from their manager, United still struggled after the interval. Antonee Robinson, prompted by Willian, delivered a shot that de Gea diverted over the bar leading to a series of precision corners from Pereira.
The keeper saved from Willian but in the 50th minute he was decisively beaten by a powerful left foot shot from Mitro, assisted by Diop. Gone once and for all was the tag that the Serb had never scored in the FA Cup. Mitrovic almost added a second, de Gea performing perhaps his best save of the match.
Was it overconfidence that allowed Antony to break away and give Sancho a one-to-one with Leno? Having drawn the keeper Sancho took aim at the empty net. Somehow Willian flung himself in the ball's path and the referee pointed to the corner flag.
Messages from VAR, not to mention irregular pressure from United, took Mr Kavanagh to the pitch side TV. Whilst there he issued a red card to the incandescent Marco Silva and after watching the footage gave a penalty for handball, which meant the dismissal of Willian.
Mitrovic reacted like a playground bully poking and haranguing the official even after he too had received a red card. Tim Ream, Luis Boa Morte and de Gea were among those trying to restrain the striker. In a 40 second period three very popular Fulham stalwarts had been sent off.
No blame attaches to Willian. It was his sliding door moment. If the ball had not touched his arm he would have been a hero for preserving Fulham's lead. If he had not intervened there would still have been 11 players striving to find a winner. Instead, United were given a penalty, which was converted by Bruno Fernandes, and then had 25 minutes or more to compete against nine men. Marcel Sabitzer put them in the lead almost immediately.
It was now up to Luis Boa Morte, temporarily in charge, to save the tie. Manor Solomon, Tom Cairney, Carlos Vinicius, Harry Wilson, Dan James – Luis must have considered them all as possible goalscorers but he delayed his substitutions until the 89th minute and the only goal was a second one for Fernandes.
Marco Silva and Aleksandar Mitrovic have done so much for Fulham FC – but they will be haunted by their embarrassing meltdown.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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